In Perú, writer Marco Avilés and his dog Piji were inseparable. But when Marco decided they should pursue better lives in the United States, and Marco found himself working for a top chef, their bond and sense of adventure would be tested in ways he had never imagined.

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Martina: In Peru there’s a breed of dog that is very famous… so famous that it’s considered part of the country’s cultural patrimony. It’s called the Inca Orchid, or informally known as the hairless Peruvian dog.

Martina: That’s journalist and writer Marco Avilés. He loves Piji so much that he started documenting his companion’s adventures for a big Peruvian newspaper. The articles were a hit. Piji gained an online following and Marco got an idea that would take them both on their biggest adventure yet: they would immigrate to the United States.

Martina: Welcome to the Duolingo Spanish Podcast — I’m your host Martina Castro. Each episode we bring you fascinating first-person stories from Spanish speakers across the world. The storytellers will be using intermediate Spanish and I will be chiming in for context, in English. But these are not language lessons, they're real life lessons through language.

Martina: The Peruvian hairless dog is an ancient breed that has been in the country for thousands of years. They almost went extinct a few decades ago, but a campaign by a local breeder made them famous again.

Martina: One day, Marco decided to use his journalistic skills to help Piji find a mate. He started writing a column about Piji’s romantic life.

Marco: El primer artículo se llamó “Busco novia para mi perro”.

Martina: It was published in La República, one of Perú’s biggest newspapers, and the response was immediate. Readers started sending in pictures of their female dogs. They wanted to meet Piji and have “babies” with him.

Martina: As Piji struggled to find love, Marco struggled to love his life in Lima. He wasn’t happy with his job as director of his publishing house. Writing about Piji had awakened in him a dream of writing full-time. To top it off, his American girlfriend, Annie, was ready to return to the United States after living for more than a decade in South America.

Martina: So in July of 2014, Marco decided to quit his job and pursue a dream of a better life for him and Piji in the United States. They arrived in Maine in the dead of summer. Piji ran freely in the forest all day, happily chasing squirrels, while Marco started to organize his routine as a writer.

Martina: Piji’s ears were huge, like wings of a bat. In fact, they inspired his name. “Piji” is short for “píjiri”, which means “bat” in Machiguenga, a language from the Amazonia.

Marco: Desde ese día, Piji y yo siempre estuvimos juntos.

Martina: Ever since Marco adopted Piji, they’ve traveled all around Peru, spent their days together in Marco’s office and even traveled to meet Annie’s family in Maine. Piji was crucial to that trip -- he was the first to win over Annie’s parents.

Martina: But if Piji was unique in Perú, imagine him in snow-covered Maine. The most typical dog you see there is the Labrador Retriever, a large hunting dog covered in thick fur. Piji, on the other hand, was built for the Peruvian desert.

Martina: Marco spent his first month in Maine consulting remotely for customers back in Peru. He also kept writing his weekly column about Piji, to keep his followers informed about his life in their new country. One of those last autumn nights, Marco and Annie made an outdoor fire to enjoy the full moon.

Martina: Eventually they found him walking slowly towards them, his head covered in quills as thick as nails. A porcupine had attacked him. Marco’s brother-in-law took the quills out one by one with pliers.

Martina: But there was something wrong with the boots. Piji seemed to hate them. One day, Marco took the boots off and noticed Piji’s feet were bleeding. The boots had been squeezing his nails so tight that they were piercing his own feet. Piji’s ears didn’t fare well in the cold either. The skin started to crack and fall off.

Martina: While Annie and Marco worked on helping Piji get used to the cold, they got some bad news from Peru. Marco’s newspaper editor told him he couldn’t secure any more funding to cover his salary and let him go.

Martina: Maine is a rural state and has one of the most senior populations in the U.S. Carpenters and lumberjacks are some of the most popular jobs. But Marco had little experience in manual labor. So, what could a Peruvian journalist do in a place like Maine?

Martina: Piji went with Marco to hand out his resume in dozens of restaurants. Marco recalls waiting anxiously for an answer as if he had applied to some kind of literary prize. His mind was full of questions and doubts.

Martina: That Chinese restaurant was one of the best restaurants in Maine. The chef, Cara Stadler, is a culinary celebrity. Marco was baffled when he got the job and remembers wondering what the chef saw in him.

Martina: Marco was assigned to the salad area. His boss was Kyle — a strong man about 10 years younger than him. Kyle was incredibly fast and precise with a knife. Marco, on the other hand, was not. That first day, it took him 20 minutes to cut up a handful of cilantro.

Martina: Marco’s work at the restaurant forced him to leave Piji with Annie’s parents. That night, when Piji greeted Marco with his usual enthusiasm and jumps in the air, Marco was too exhausted to play.

Martina: One afternoon Marco picked up Piji at Annie’s parents’ house and decided to take him on a walk before heading back home. Even though this was new territory for Piji, Marco decided to walk him off-leash so he could run around a bit.

Marco: El sol estaba bajando cuando vimos pasar a un venado.

Martina: Un venado is a deer.

Marco: Inmediatamente, Piji corrió atrás de él.

Martina: Piji’s barking echoed as he ran deep into these woods that were unfamiliar to him.

Martina: Marco decided to go ask for help before it got too dark. As he walked back to Annie’s parents house, he couldn’t help but be overwhelmed with shame and anguish as he imagined telling everybody that he had just lost his best friend.

Martina: For all of Marco’s success at his new job, each night he still came home exhausted from the intensity of the kitchen. It also pained him to be far from Piji and to put aside his writing. “If I’m going to work this hard,” he thought to himself, “wouldn’t it be better to work on something of my own?”

Martina: Marco Avilés is a journalist and is back to writing every day — he, Piji and Annie are still living in their cabin in Maine. If you liked this story, we’d love it if you shared it with your friends who are also learning Spanish. Send them a link to podcast.duolingo.com. There, you can find a transcript of this story and other episodes. To get the episodes sent to you, subscribe at Apple podcasts or your favorite listening app. With over 200 million members, Duolingo is the world's largest online language learning platform and the most downloaded education app in the world. Duolingo believes that everyone should have access to education of the highest quality for free. Learn more at duolingo.com. I´m Martina Castro, gracias por escuchar.